


Jasmine

by j_gabrielle



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, First Kiss, M/M, Priest!Eggsy, Priestesses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-20
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-18 18:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3580239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/j_gabrielle/pseuds/j_gabrielle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The Goddess bless you." The young man breathes, smelling like the sun and dust with the hints of jasmine. He is leaning in and kissing Harry lightly on his brow, his cheeks before pressing his soft lips against Harry's.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Merlin steers him away from sellers and their wares, tugging him down and through an ivy curtained alleymouth. It's quieter here. The distant voices and noises of the city at midday is still heard, but muffled. It is as if they've travelled into a pocket of reality close but separate from the rest.

"Don't look so alarmed." Merlin teases as they come to the end of the alley, passing through the blue wooden weatherbeaten doors that creak in protest as they are swung. "They won't tie you down and offer you as sacrifice to the gods."

Harry bristles, tugging at the hem of his travel cloak. "I'm not alarmed. I just wish to be done with these... formalities. That is all."

"Peace, my friend. I meant no offense." Merlin grins. "How about I go in and offer the prayers for both of us and you stay out here and try to remain as inconspicuous as possible? It's midday, so the only ones here would be the temple caretakers."

"Fine." Harry answers, undoing his brooch. "Do what is necessary. I'd like to reach the inn before sundown."

"As you wish." Merlin turns, holding his pack close. He disappears into the shadows of the outer sanctum as Harry finds a shelter from the heat under the jasmine tree hanging with age. Harry is reaching into his own pack for his wineskin when he hears fast footfalls of someone approaching the doors. He has his hand curled around the hilt of his sword when a young man tumbles through them, landing with a thump and a crash of bracelets onto the tiled floor in front of him.

"Hah!" The young man pants, lips stretched wide and mad. He is broad shouldered, lean but muscled. Harry thinks briefly that the young man would make a fine addition to his company with a bit of training and the proper kit. The young man's hair fell around his face in disarray, a light sheen of sweat layers on his skin, glinting in the light. He looks relatively clean and a little too well dressed to be a beggar, the only markings on his body were the faint henna lines at his neck. "Oh." The young man says, blinking at the sight of Harry under the shade. "Sorry, I didn't see you there."

"Are you in trouble?" Harry asks, sitting up. He no longer has a hand on his sword, but it's pressed close to him where he can easily reach for it.

The young man's features scrunches up into a bemused frown. "I highly doubt it's anything you can help me with." He stands, dusting himself down. The jangle of the bracelets disrupts the hush of the courtyard. "Have you seen anyone around here?"

Harry shakes his head, taking in the relief that blossom in the young man's smile. "Oh, good. They haven't noticed then. I would've used the entrance in the gardens, but I was afraid they'd be taking their afternoon rest there." He shrugs, still smiling. "All the better for me." He makes to leave before halting himself and going up to Harry. "I almost forgot. The Goddess bless you." The young man breathes, smelling like the sun and dust with the hints of jasmine. He is leaning in and kissing Harry lightly on his brow, his cheeks before pressing his soft lips against Harry's. 

Harry lets himself respond to the kiss before he draws away at the sudden action, shocked. The young man's eyes widen, lips parting to say something when they both hear the sounds of voices from the inner sanctum. The young man casts him a panicked look, pursing his lips and beating a swift escape by slipping into the shadows of the second courtyard.

"Harry, I hope I wasn't away too long. I did try to keep the prayers short." Merlin says as he appears. A priestess follows closely behind him, the pale green robes denoting her station flowing down and beating around her bare feet as she walks. Her face is obscured by her veil, only showing her eyes. Up and down her arms, her shoulders and the tops of her feet that can be seen, Harry notes the lines and markings that followers of the Goddess carry. "The Sister Roxanne was kind enough to help me with the ritual." Merlin bows to the girl as he moves to Harry's side.

"It was nothing." Sister Roxanne says, her voice strong and confident. Harry is positive that he can see the outlines of her smile from under her veil.

Harry bows to her as well. He straightens, turning to look at the shadows where the young man had disappeared. "Harry?" Merlin lays a warm hand on his arm. "Are you all right?"

"Quite." He answers shortly, busying himself with his brooch. Merlin's eyes watch him quizzically. The Sister clears her throat, clasping her hands in front of her.

"My Lord, I wonder if I may inquire as to whether you have seen a young man pass through the courtyard while you were waiting here?"

Harry blinks rapidly at the question. "I have seen no one." He answers evenly.

"Ah." The Sister says, visibly deflating. "I was hoping he'd be back by now." She murmurs quietly, the threads of worry evident in her voice.

"Pray tell, who is this young man you are asking of?" Harry asks.

The Sister merely shakes her head. "The young man the Goddess has chosen to be her avatar. He is to be paraded for the festival in a week. He has been... Proving difficult to care for."

Harry does not inquire further, merely bowing once more for farewell and leaving out the doors with Merlin close at his heels.

"What was that all about?" Merlin nudges him, squinting at the sudden assault of senses as they enter into the market fray once more.

Harry frowns. He does not reply, only focusing his eyes on the road ahead.


	2. Chapter 2

The next time Harry meets the Goddess' avatar, it is with his trousers down.

"Um." Bright eyes widen at the sight of him, colour rising high on his cheeks. Harry quirks an eyebrow, content with where he is pissing against the wall of the inn he had just spent the better part of the evening in. 

"You again." He drawls, shaking his head out of the alcohol induced fuzz. "Isn't a little late for you to be wandering around like this?"

The young man chuckles nervously, looking over his shoulder in barely concealed panic. "You have to hide me." He says in a rush. Coming up next to him, he coils his hand around Harry's wrist. This close, Harry can smell the ghost trails of smoke and jasmine on the man's skin permeating the stench of alcohol in the back of his throat. 

From the inside of the building, he can hear drunken singing to the tuneless melody of the band. Harry's had quite enough of their company for the night, and had been on his way back to his lodgings when he was-

"Please!" The young man grabs Harry's hand, and through the haze of indifference, he can finally see the mad desperation that colours its' way through the one word. Voices cutting through the night reveller's singing grow loud and angry. Despite himself, he finds himself gritting his teeth.

"Fine."

Harry pulls him close, pressing their bodies close as he throws them back into the crowd on the main street busy with festival preparations. The young man clings on. If Harry could venture a guess, he would say that the man was grateful for a stranger's intervention.

"What's your name?" Harry asks. To all who cast them even a moment's worth of looks they were but a drunk and the man helping him home. At the puzzled frown he receives, he clarifies. "It's not exactly conducive for me to keep calling you 'the young man' in my inner monologues, now is it?"

A soft quirk to the corner of his lips, the man answers, pleased, "My mother called me Eggsy once."

"Eggsy." Harry tries, rolling the word in his mouthing, tasting it, savouring the weight of it on his lips and in his voice. "It's a nice name."

The young man - Eggsy, smiles quite brilliantly at that. "It's not my real name. My father gave one to me when I was born but I never... It never quite stuck."

Harry chooses to ignore the hints of bitterness and wistfulness in his voice. "This way." He says, pulling them up a side street and towards a climb of stairs. Here, there are less eyes to observe them in the shadows of the tightly jumbled together buildings. Their mismatched roofs and windows all held evidence of occupancy, but there are no inquisitive looks thrown their way. For that small miracle, Harry is glad.

"Why do you keep running away from the temple, Eggsy?" He asks as he untangles himself from Eggsy's side. Instantly, he misses the warmth and weight of another body next to his.

"How did you figure me out?" Eggsy asks, stopping in his surprise. "How did you know I was... you know?"

Harry rolls his eyes. "It wasn't all that difficult. You had the markings, for one." He says, pulling him along. He guides them through the winding steps and cutting across small lanes and winding paths. It is hardly the rougher part of town, but it's still far from the sanctuary and lux of the temple grounds.

"It's a little unusual for the avatar to be simultaneously male and this old." Harry muses. "Have you always been promised to the Goddess?"

"No." Eggsy answers shortly.

Harry pauses in his words. "Is that why you keep running away?"

Eggsy stopping pulls him to a halt too. "If I wanted to run away from the temple, I could have done so three years ago when I entered that place. As it is... As it is, they keep me fed, a roof over my head, education and a meagre allowance for the things I may want."

"And what is it you want, Eggsy?"

"To see my mother and sister." He lifts his head and stares intently into Harry's eyes, willing him to understand. "The man she is living with now is my sister's father. He... He doesn't treat her very well. The Sisterhood had been kind to accept the Goddess' will when the oracle divined it, but there would have been no way they would accept the strangers that my sister and my mother are to them living on the compound."

Harry brings them round a corner and they come to a long empty street banked by tall ivy covered walls. "Are these...?"

"Yes." Harry looks around them. "The temple's outer walls. You'll need to scale the wall before you make your way back to your rooms. Now, I wouldn't recommend you dawdle because the night watchman will be making his round soon, so i'd recommend getting a move on things?"

Eggsy's gapes at him slighty. "I..."

Harry shakes his head, "Save your thanks for when my ego needs it."

This draws a smile on handsome features. "Thank you." Eggsy says, dipping his head. As he reaches to climb, he pauses, turning to Harry. "I'd like to see you again." He declares, voice shaking.

Harry blinks at him sluggishly. "And you will." He promises.

Eggsy takes that, grinning. Quick as lightning, he steals a kiss from the corner of Harry's lips. "The Goddess bless you." He breathes, running and climbing the wall.

As Harry watches him go, it occurs to him that he never told Eggsy his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the mistakes and rushed quality of this chapter. I'm half asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be adding the tags as I go along and as necessary. 
> 
> If you've read Diana Wynne Jones' "The Lives of Christopher Chant", then you'd know my inspiration.


End file.
